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Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

Zak Irvin is the state of Indiana's Mr. Basketball 2013. / AP

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Derrick Walton Jr. has known Zak Irvin since before the two were teenagers.

“He’s a unique player,” Walton said of Irvin, from Fishers, Ind., Hamilton Southeastern High. “He’s strong enough to get his shot over bigger players and he’s too big for smaller players. When he won Mr. Basketball, I immediately called him and congratulated him. We talk just about every other day.”

In June the two University of Michigan recruits will make the trek to Ann Arbor to begin their freshman season.

When asked what was on his mind leading up to summer school at U-M, Walton, a Free Press Dream Team selection, quickly said “starting.”

Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. opting for June’s NBA draft left Walton with different emotions.

“I was glad for both of them because I knew it was a decision that they believed was best for them,” the Harper Woods Chandler Park Academy senior said. “With Trey leaving, I knew there would be playing time for me.”

While Walton likely would be expected to share time with sophomore-to-be Spike Albrecht, the star of the first half of U-M’s championship game loss to Louisville, Irvin has a path to a starting role at small forward at 6-feet-7 and with Indiana’s Mr. Basketball on his resume. If Glenn Robinson III is moved to small forward, Irvin would be his talented backup.

Regardless of who starts, both Irvin and Walton are too talented not to play.

“I think we bring different things to the position,” Walton said of his assessment of the point guard situation with Albrecht. “There are things he does and things that I do that will help both of us.”

There will be no AAU basketball for Walton this summer for Wolverines basketball.

“I’ve been working a lot on my jump shot,” Walton said. “I know in the offense we shoot a lot of threes, but I’m also working on my mid-range jump shot. I’m working on running the pick-and-roll. If the defender ducks under the screen, I have to make the jump shot. If he fights over the screen, I can get to the basket or get the ball inside.”

That’s where Walton would find Mitch McGary waiting underneath the basket, or sophomore shooter Nik Stauskas in the corner.

“I don’t think the offense will change much with Trey gone,” Walton said. “The point guard will have the ball in his hands and has to make plays. When Glenn and Mitch decided to come back, I was excited because I can learn from them and ask questions about how things went during their freshman year.”